


I know the road is long, but where you are is home.

by Deeambles



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blood, Brief description of a wound, Fix-It, Gen, Genma is there for a sec and so is fugaku, Minato lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 14:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20893775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deeambles/pseuds/Deeambles
Summary: Ootsutsuki Hamura, also know as the Shingami, gets pulled into the real world for the first time in ages, and is used to seal the kyuubi within his stomach, at the cost of the user who did it.Hamura takes one look at Namikaze Minato and decides he does not want to see this man for the rest of eternity, and promptly boots out his new tenant.Hamura, however, is the god of death, not time. In his defense, he gets pretty close though.





	I know the road is long, but where you are is home.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to write angst and it turned into a fix-it????

Fuck does it hurt, Minato thinks despairingly as he makes his way up some old raggedy stairs. He’s definitely in the ghetto, but at the very least Konoha. He had meant to start revamping this area and getting the people into better living conditions and better jobs to maintain them, but unfortunately his short reign came to an untimely end.

Minato thinks of the Shinigami’s face before and after he removed the mask. Shocking to say the least, but Minato’s determined to make the most of it.

He’s not sure how he hasn’t been found yet but his chakra reserves are currently what they were at after he and kushina impaled themselves on the Kyuubi’s claw to save their son, and minato doesn’t even get the added bonus of still having half of the beasts chakra.

The Shinigami, no, Hamura, sent the other half back to the world to fuel its natural chakra. Only to reform when the other half is released to join it.

Fuck knows when konoha will give it up, but at the moment Minato is confident in saying never.

After a grueling climb, he carefully knocks on the door of the home. He can’t feel anyone there, or any traps, but Minato’s not a sensor on his best days and this is certainly one of his worst in awhile.

_“I will heal your wound, Namikaze, and then you will go back. You have no business here or having the Kyuubi within you.” _

Minato grimaces as he remembers the death gods words, his ear still pressed against the door for any movement, and arm still holding his very red, at this point coat against his stomach.

_“The wound will heal itself, but do not jostle it. Sleep it off and try again. I will try to send you back to a time period close, but you will find time is not my domain. Good luck, and don’t let me see you using that jutsu again.” _

Fuck you, Minato mentally thinks, and fuck whatever I drank before Kushina’s birth that made think any of what I did was a good idea.

Bleeding, fed up, and in a very self deprecating mood, minato finally says fuck it and quickly breaks the lock and shoves himself inside to drop against the door as it shuts closed.

He needs to sleep off the now relatively medium sized gash to his stomach. A quick glance around the apartment tells him he might luck out after all.

It’s abandoned, clearly. There’s dust reflecting in the moonlight and he can smell the trash from the entry where he’s collapsed. Ramen, seems to be the only thing this person ate for he can spot a container of the cheap packaged stuff in just about every corner.

There’s no signs on the walls or anything personable that he can see, so maybe they moved out and the landlord hasn’t bothered to clean it up. There’s small imprints in the dust, and he would guess a child but judging by the state of things, it’s simply areas that haven’t been coated over yet.

Breathing out a sigh, he leans his head back against the door and closes his eyes.

I’m so sorry Kushina, he thinks miserably, our son won’t go another day by himself, I promise.

And he’ll make good on that promise tomorrow, after he’s not dizzy from blood loss, and he can give Hiruzen (assuming the mans still alive) a proper heart attack before interrogating every orphanage or foster home his son might be in. The cryptic words of Hamura ring in his head and he just hopes that Naruto isn’t old and gray already. Minato has no idea what he’ll do if that’s the case.

He feels himself drifting to sleep and he adjusts his head against the door frame to secure himself for a restless sleep.

The light flicks on.

Minato snaps opens his eyes only to squint them shut as black dances around his vision. He attempts to stand up, but he falls to the ground and slams his head against the door knob in his way down.

Which fine, maybe he deserved it.

It takes him a minute, but eventually his eyes adjust and he can scan the room for the probably civilian standing in shock.

He doesn’t get that. Instead he swears he hears the Shinigami laughing.

A child stares back at him. A child with blonde hair, blue eyes, and very very distinct whisker marks decorating his face.

The child rubs his eyes and frowns.

“Mister... are you okay?”

Minato breathes out a little heavier, because he knows who that child is. The bone structure is all kushina even if he got Minato’s coloring.

Why is his child in a worn down apartment for one? Why is his child alone?!

“I’ll be okay,” Minato croaks, voice cracking half way through, “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you dying, mister?” Naruto says wearily, threading his hands through his shirt nervously.

“No” Minato whispers, “I just gotta sleep it off, ya know?”

“I know.” Naruto says but he’s frowning as he looks over the collapsed man in his tiny little entry way.

Minato might be crying now. Why doesn’t his son know who is he? Why has nobody come to clean his apartment? Is he hallucinating this entire thing?? Couldn’t one of his friends be bothered to hang a picture? Why??

“Mister.” Naruto says, all of a sudden a lot closer than before. He’s got a towel in hand and Minato reaches out gratefully with a bloody hand and presses it against his abdomen.

“Should I call for someone?” His son asks, he’s squinting out the window as if someone is only a shout away and not deep in slumber.

“I’ll be fine.” Minato says again. It’s more for him at this point he thinks, than Naruto.

“You’re crying Mister.”

Minato smiles a little, a brave face for all that within an hour he lost his wife, his life, and then regained the latter only to find his son alone, just out of toddler hood, and has no clue who Minato is.

Minato thought the apartment was abandoned.

“Sorry,” He whispers, “I can’t help it.”

“You can go back to sleep, I promise I’ll be fine by morning.”

Naruto shakes his head, “I think I should get help mister, just wait right here okay?”

Minato tries to protest but ends up just pulling his wound and collapsing even further against the door than he was before.

Naruto runs over to the window, unlatches it, and yells, “HEY CREEPS THAT FOLLOW ME—“

Oh sage above and below Minato thinks hysterically, he’s definitely Kushina’s child.

“THERE’S SOMEBODY BLEEDING OUT IN MY APARTMENT.”

Within seconds an Anbu is crouched on the window and Naruto is scrambling back in shock.

Minato can feel his already blurry vision start to black again, and maybe he shouldn’t have released his hand to accept the towel, it seems to have made it worse.

He’s blinking his eyes open again, when did he close them?, and there’s Anbu crouched around his head. They try to lift him but he cries out in pain and the black dots spread big enough to take up an entire mask.

“Sensei—“ he hears

“Yondaime-sama—”

Fuck, he thinks, please don’t let kakashi see him bleed out also.

The green wash of cooling chakra fills his stomach cavity and minato moans in some mix of relief and pain from the foreign chakra.

When he opens his eyes again it’s to a hospital ceiling and the pleasant blankness of thought that screams strong medical drugs.

Then he remembers what happened and he’s sitting up fast enough to make his vision swim, and set the monitor behind him blaring. He’s only just got his IV out and his feet beneath him when there’s hands on his shoulders trying to push him back down.

Hiruzen looks as even older than he did when Minato died and while it is a little bit of relief he’s even alive, he also put his son in an apartment by himself like some sort of pest.

Kushina’s ghost must haunt his body for a minute because he can’t remember what he said the next time he wakes up, but it must of been scary enough for Hiruzen to blanche and the nurses to knock him out as politely as possible.

The next time, he’s sneakier.

He keeps his breathing measured and unplugs the machine before slipping the IV out. He doesn’t have chakra restraints on so he can feel the ANBU watching him curiously.

He cocks his head and waves a sign and hound drops in front of him.

Minato steps forward and takes off the mask to see Kakashi’s face underneath.

“Your old sensei doesn’t even get a hug? I almost died kakashi.”

Kakashi makes a sound like glass breaking and pulls Minato him in tight.

“You did die, sensei.” He cries into Minato’s hospital shirt.

“Only once.” Minato replies halfheartedly 

“Sensei where are you going?”

“Naruto’s apartment, have you seen that thing?”

“Sensei...”

Minato rolls his eyes, “I’m sneaking out with or without you, Kakashi.” He raises a marked kunai and an eyebrow.

_You in? _

Kakashi is by his side and then they’re off.

“You’re my dad?” Naruto asks again.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” Minato says smiling. He crouched down to his four year old sons level.

“I promise I won’t be again.”

Naruto’s face scrunches and then he’s running over and Minato gets another hug and he’s so so happy where he’s not so so pissed.

“Who’s the creep” Naruto whispers into his ear, eyeing Kakashi over his shoulder.

“A friend.” Minato whispers back.

“Hmph”

“Beat it.” Minato says with a smile. Fugaku sighs long and hard from somewhere behind him.

Minato doesn’t comment but he’s been back not even a full week and he knows about a supposed coup.

Hiruzen gets up drops the hat and robs and strolls out while lighting his pipe.

Minato sits down in the chair and smiles up at the Uchiha clan head, “Alright, let’s start, shall we?”

“Hey sensei.” Kakashi says nonchalantly.

“Hmm?”

“So I found this lead...”

“And?”

“Apparently Obito’s alive and running a terrorist organization.”

“what.”

Naruto is a blast and Minato throws him on everyone he can. There’s a couple people who still sneered at him in the beginning only for Minato to appear behind him like an angry ghost and scare them shitless.

Entertaining, really.

Hiruzen’s big stone face looks good covered in paint, and if Minato’s stays relatively clean, than who is he to blame?

“Namikaze Minato....”

“Hey Obito, I know your on this crusade and everything—“

“Sensei how—“

“But I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

“I don’t know what your talking about.”

“Consider it redemption for ambushing Kushina and I and nearly killing Naruto. Rin would be pleased I’m sure.”

“....”

Minato smiles bright at the ugly monstrosity that is his ex-students mask. The orange goggles were better in his opinion.

“I’m listening” Madara-but-really-Obito says.

“So let me get this straight.” Jiraiya says throwing his feet up onto the Hokage desk.

“The Shinigami came to you once you were sealed inside his stomach and basically told you to beat it.”

“Basically.”

“And then—“ Jiraiya says incredulously, “he sent you back, healed your wound—“

“Healed it slowly—“ Minato interrupts with

“_Still, _he healed your wound _after_ you summoned him from probably a very busy job. And now your here.”

“Yup.” Minato chirps, shoving his old sensei’s shoes aside to fill out another various form. Is that land taxes? He thinks it is.

“Not to mention you’re debunking and dismantling a terrorist organization I’ve managed to get nearly jack shit on in the years I’ve been on the case.” Jiraiya says slowly.

Minato hums an agreement. Obito is guilty as hell, and normally he’d feel bad about emotionally manipulating someone, especially his student, but—

Well him and Obito have a relationship to repair. Slowly. With care.

He needs to stop referring to himself as Madara first, and kill the creepy plant second. Then they can talk again. 

Jiraiya sighs and Minato looks up as he throws an outlandish appeal for a third coffee shop on a street into the reject pile. 

“Fine, kid, I’ll bite. How’s the mini you?”

“Naruto’s great!” Minato practically sings. Genma, formally reinstated back into the guard rotation winces in the rafters above.

Once somebody gets Minato talking Naruto he doesn’t stop.

In the Uchiha compound, behind a very flowery rose bush, Naruto sneezes. It gives him away in the game of hide n seek he and sasuke are playing with shisui but he’s still gonna have the Best Time Ever cause he’s got a Dad and a friend even if Sasuke’s a grump and he gets to play after school with real friends!

Uzumaki Naruto has never been happier, believe it! 

“So Kisame is now the Godaime of Kiri. Zabuza Momochi is his right hand.” Obito-thankfully-no-longer-going-by-Madara says flatly.

“Cool” Minato nods along with.

“And Zetsu, the plant thing, is spending his days in another dimension.” He adds

“Thank the kami.” Minato agrees

“Kakuzu is still an angry old man, but he doesn’t see the point in going back to Taki so he’s just like another bounty hunter again I guess.”

“He was that before Akatsuki, it makes sense he’d be that after again.” Minato sympathizes.

“Sasori went to go work on puppets in an underground cave or what not and Deidara went to join him. I’m sure he’ll blow it up or something so it’s not our problem.”

“Sounds explosive. Caves are thankfully not common to this region.”

Obito winces and Minato mentally slaps himself in the face.

“Yeah” Obito agrees before the dumb blonde can correct himself, “and Konan and Nagato were always ruling Ame so like, their there now, doing what they’ve been doing.”

“I got the alliance letter. Konan you said? She makes some good bargains, the council meeting for it is tomorrow.” Minato supplies, finally putting his pen down to look up at Obito.

“Sensei... I don’t think I can stay here in Konoha. There’s just— it’s just—“ he stutters

“ I understand.” Minato soothes, before thoughtfully adding, “We still need an ambassador for Ame?”

Obito smiles, the first true one that’s Minato’s seen and it makes his insides warm considerably with joy.

“Thanks sensei.”

“Hey sensei?”

“Yeah Kakashi?”

“I’m glad you came back.”

Minato smiles and reaches over to ruffle the Hatake’s hair.

“Me too.”

Minato nearly has the homemade ramen done when Naruto comes busting into the house waving a nearly perfect test score in his hand. It took three Anbu shifts and some of Minato’s most bullshit descriptions of a basic bushin for him to give in and teach him the Kage bushin.

Naruto did it flawlessly and apparently it paid off.

A celebration and a half later, and more ramen bowels than he can count, Naruto asks

“Hey dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you tell me another story about mom?”

Minato smiles, feeling like the world just stopped and Naruto is the only thing that matters. Kushina would of been so happy if she were here and Minato is bound and determined to be happy in her place.

It’s worked out so far, he thinks, glancing to her picture on the wall. He smiles just a bit more when he happily agrees.

“I’d love too.”


End file.
